Taken from The Mobile Communication Society (Manuel Castell's):
"Mobile telephony has also changed our working world. Indeed, first adopters of the device were truckers, construction workers and maintenance engineers166 and the device was thought of as a tool for work, basically because of its price. However, it became more widely adopted, thanks to the use that other social stratums made of the device once mobile communication costs became affordable.
Mobile telephony, indeed, first affected what we can call mobile workers, that is, the staff that works both at the office and out of the office. Although the nature of displacements are not the same, here we are considering both long distance travels and short distance ones. So then, for instance, a mobile worker could be a commercial that has to visit different clients located in the same city where the office is or in another continent. In all the cases, although technological facilities to be used could be different, the situation is similar because, as long as the staff is away from the home office, contextual constrains become unpredictable."
After studying Market Square for patterns in mobile communication useage and a possible fragmentation in society I found that the majority of wireless communication occurred around the lion statues in Market Square, this seemed to be the biggest hotspot for wireless communication, perhaps it is the most ideal meeting area for people to congregate.
I found that the seated areas to the side attracted large numbers of mobile communication users who seemed to be happily chatting away for a large number of minutes, it also attracted laptop users usually of the business demographic.
It appears that workers are now working more hours and in every possible location, this perpetual contact I feel is fragmenting our society because business is getting in the way of leisure and family time.
For the design of the space I found a resource which indicates the area has been designed to attract users more centrally to the square, this may have been a technological decision because of the high uses of mobile communication today, perhaps it was designed as a gathering point for business & leisure.
I managed to gather some data on the old market square compared to the new market square and it seems some research was taken as to the routes pedestrians took with the old layout, which involved a lot of 'desire-lines' (lines pedestrians take opposed to what was planned on paper.)
Taken from Space Syntax (2007):
Nottingham's Old Market Square reopens after layout redesign.
Old Market Square, the main public space in the heart of Nottingham, England has reopened following a two-year, fast-track process of design, planning and construction. Space Syntax gave advice to lead designers Gustafson Porter on the design of the overall layout.
Our survey of previous use patterns that showed 78% of pedestrians avoided the heart of the space. Computer analysis of the pedestrian route network of central Nottingham showed how the old design of the square inhibited pedestrian "desire lines".
In the new design simple, highly accessible routes pass through the square from corner to corner, bringing pedestrian animation to the very centre.
Neil Porter of Gustafson Porter said:
"Space Syntax's analysis and design contribution helped unlock the scheme. The evidence they presented proved critical in promoting our design and convincing people that it would work."
Upon completing my ethnographic studies of a domestic space and collecting data from a questionnaire I created regarding the social effects technology has I decided to study a family environment to get a more coherent and rangeful set of data. I created small sketches of a domestic family environment to capture social interaction and technology.
I found that in a family environment wireless technologies were used more, as the living room space was the area that the majority of the family stayed. Wireless technologies usually used in this space were mobiles, laptops and games consoles. This wireless technology available has made it possible for a number of individuals to engage collectively rather than separately.
I found that my ethnographic study showed they relied heavily on mobile communication to enable the family to integrate, it seemed that every member had a relationship with their mobile phone and felt disconnected and lost without one. I feel this wireless communication is penetrating our homes and fragmenting leisure time in families due to business demands and in a way nobody is actually "switching-off. Even though mobile communication is vastly increasing efficiency in the working and family environment I think this is adding more "stress" on individuals because of this efficiency.
I've concluded that technology is affecting the family environment. I also gave each member of the family a questionnaire to complete and I found that the parents of the family definitely felt technology was affecting family leisure time, they felt social networking sites distracted the children and when asked if they would sign up to one they said no. However the children of the family felt that the parent’s relationships with their mobile phones and business/work related affairs affected the family on a larger scale.
Here are some screenshots from my 5th artefact that looks at a commercial urban environment to gather data on technology & space. These images will be placed into the crowd compiler software to find areas that attract crowds and whether this space can be better used from a technological point of view, such as tourist access points and advertising.
I decided to take a trip out with the camera today seen as it was such good weather. I wanted to get some slow motion footage of random people walking around Market Square in Nottingham. My reason for filming is because it was for my 4th Artefact, which is an ethnographic study in an urban environment. I've done this to find out what are the biggest hotspot's of people and the reasons why ie. technology & space and whether technology is fragmenting our built environment socially.
The footage will be imported into the crowd compiler software I found in my first artefact, I will then gather the data and check out my results.
In the meantime I've decided to use this footage as a good opportunity to do some color correction. Essentially my research is looking at Society & Technology so I think its a good way to illustrate this connection visually using video.
After doing my ethnographic studies of a student flat (Artefact 2)to find informed social patterns relating to technology I decided to do it from a nuclear family environment to get a more coherent and rangeful set of data. I done small sketches of a family environment to capture this interaction with technology.
I found that in a family environment wireless technologies was more useful, as the living room space was the area that the majority of the family stayed, wireless technologies usually used in this space were mobiles, laptops and games consoles. This wireless technology available has made it possible for a number of individuals to engage together rather separately.
I found that a computer access point in an urban family environment was usually in a seperate room, which would be used from time to time for work.
Each bedroom has a computer and it seemed the younger members of the family would fragment from the living room to their bedrooms, where as older members preferred to use a wireless technology. I've concluded that technology is affecting the family environment especially from a younger demographic.
I found that my ethnographic study of a family environment showed they relied heavily on mobile communication to enable the family to integrate, it seemed that every member had a relationship with their mobile phone and felt disconnected and lost without one. I feel this wireless communication is penetrating our homes and fragmenting leisure time in familys due to business demands and in a sense nobody is "switching-off" Although mobile communication is vastly increasing efficiency in the working and family environment I think this is adding more "stress" on individuals because of this efficiency.
"An important part of coordination is related to travelling that members of a family habitually do. These journeys can be made by car, public transportation or even by foot, and include diverse activities that, for instance, could be to go to the supermarket or to pick up the children from school and drive them to any out-of-school activity. A study159 demonstrated that, in this sense, the mobile telephony is not significantly changing the number of trips a person makes, but allows the redirection of journeys that have already begun.
These kinds of adjustments, which mobile telephony has made habitual, belong to the Microcoordination category:
Micro-coordination is the nuanced management of social interactions. [It] can be seen in the redirection of trips that have already started, it can be seen in the iterative agreement as to where and when can meet friends, and it can be seen, for example, in the ability to call ahead when we are late to an appointment.160 Summing up, what can be said about micro-coordination is that it allows increased levels of efficiency in everyday activities thanks to perpetual contact"
This artefact has used data gathered from a questionnaire I compiled. It focuses on the social trends of people and technology.
I used the questionnaire to gain a deeper understanding of society and technology and the possible effects technology has on society today.
Upon analysis of my questionnaire, the results were very interesting. 60% of people in my questionnaire spent more than 20 hours per week using a computer. “Of these hours how many are used for work related activities?” 40% of respondents answered 6-10 Hours whilst 40% of respondents answered 11-15 Hours for “How many are used for other activities?” These were majority votes compared to the other response counts of the other hourly rates.
Using the internet to Surf the Web recieved 80% of respondents and Socialise with friends 60% compared to the 10% online shopping, 10% emailing, 10% Computer games, and 30% Word processing.
Socialising with Friend’s online (20+ Hours) gained 30% of respondents compared to 20% of Socialising with Friend’s. However the most compelling result was an astonishing 90% of respondents have allowed technology to get in the way of work/studies or socialising face to face.
I think it is quite conclusive through my results that technology is having an effect on society. I’ve found that the majority of people day to day interface with a computer or mobile communication device and I’ve found that socialising through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter & Myspace seem to be the most popular ways of spending time on a computer.
I believe this mobile autonomy is causing fragmentation within families due to “working on the move”. This is something I’m particularly interested in researching for my next artefact to give my artefacts more concrete evidence that technology is causing a fractualisation in society, particularly in a family environment.
I've included a few screenshots of the editing phase. My video is constructed as follows -
Firefly Feature: Jeet Interview & Club Footage cut aways - 5 minutes Bedbug Feature: Jamie Jones Interview & Footage of Bar Eleven - 5 minutes Sheffield Feature: Pedramovich Interview & Plug Nightclub footage (This did include an interview with Jon Carter, however this was eventually pulled as it was unusable) Micron Leg: Ronny/Senya/Goshva DJing footage - 1 minute long to promote Micron. Max Cooper @ Stealth: Scratching Techniques video, with Max Cooper behind the decks giving tips and tricks for anyone wanting to add more technical aspects to their DJing.
This post is just an update to show you how my DVD Menu will look for my video. I've uploaded this to youtube for everyone to look at. I created the masked text effect in Adobe After Effects, The text is masking the Video which is an effect that I think really stands out, I didn't want anything too complicated and wanted to keep the menu very minimal and clean looking, with typography being the focal point, adjusting the kerning and leading of the type to get my desired effect.
Just an update regarding my client project, I've embedded a small interview snippet from the DVD, the whole thing needs colour correcting which is taking a while to render! The DVD menu is nearly there, so i should have some screenshots upped shortly. I'm Hoping to have the DVD printing sorted this week so fingers crossed theirs no problems. Overall I'm really pleased and my client seems very happy with the product which is going to be used as promotional tool to hand out. Hopefully the project shouldn't have any hiccups at the last minute.
** update - embedded video seems to go over the navigation on the right which looks awful, so I've decided to link it instead **
I'm busy developing a portfolio website inbetween working on my client project & my PRP. I've been offered a job at a design studio if I can learn some coding so in my spare time I've been reading some CSS and XHTML books to develop my understanding.
My portfolio is going to be a very simple design, with 4 sections my home page, work, short biography, and contact details. I have my portfolio work there to be included but I'm still developing a way to best show this on my Work page. I'm thinking of using flash for that part. You can view 2 pages live that I have uploaded at the moment, I made sure they were W3C compliant and that they worked on multiple browsers before uploading! I'm very pleased with the outcome and cant wait to get my portfolio work section done that will be broke down into 3 sections, Web, Print and Video. I'm also wanting to develop a blog, however this is something I might have to get outside help with as its way past my ability. For my homepage I'm wanting a scrolling gallery of my most recent work. You can visit 2 live pages currently complete here:
I come from a small town in the North East called Seaham (Billy Elliot fame!). Currently studying my second year of Multimedia in Nottingham and concentrating my efforts on Music Production. I hope to make a career out of this no matter what it takes!
Taken from The Mobile Communication Society (Manuel Castell's):
